Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Senate on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, passed a binding resolution calling on the Federal Government to impose an immediate and total ban on the importation of foreign textile materials as part of a sweeping legislative package aimed at resuscitating the country’s comatose textile industry, reeling under a 95 percent collapse in cotton production and the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs. The upper legislative chamber also demanded increased funding for the Bank of Industry (BoI) dedicated to textile revival, along with a coordinated national policy to massively expand cotton farming across the country.
The resolution, adopted during Tuesday’s plenary in Abuja, followed the consideration of a motion titled “Urgent Need to Revive the Textile Industries in Nigeria with Particular Reference to the Kaduna-Kano Axis”. The motion was sponsored by Senator Sunday Marshall Katung (APC, Kaduna South) and co-sponsored by a formidable cross‑party coalition that included Senators Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North), Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP, Kogi Central), Tahir Monguno (APC, Borno North), Adamu Aliero (PDP, Kebbi Central), Ibrahim Khalid (APC, Kaduna North), and Simon Lalong (APC, Plateau South), among others. The unusually broad support underscored the growing recognition among lawmakers that the collapse of the textile sector has become a national economic emergency.
Katung, in his lead debate, painted a vivid picture of what he called “the tragic decline of a once‑mighty industrial pillar”. He recalled that Nigeria’s first large-scale textile manufacturing mill was established in Kaduna in 1957, a development that spread rapidly to other regions and laid the foundation for a thriving industrial sector. By the late 1970s and 1980s, Nigeria boasted approximately 167 textile mills employing more than 500,000 workers directly, making the textile industry the second largest employer of labour after the Federal Government. The sector was the third largest in Africa, generating about $2 billion annually and producing over 1.4 billion pieces of textile products annually, including African prints, wax prints, guinea brocades, lace, shirting, bed sheets, towels, fishing nets and jute bags.
Kaduna, Katung noted, earned the nickname “Textile City” due to the concentration of major integrated textile mills in the state, including Arewa Textiles Plc, Fantex Nigeria Ltd, Nortex Nigeria Ltd, Supertex Ltd and United Nigerian Textiles Ltd. “Kaduna was referred to as the Textile City because it housed giant integrated mills and had the headquarters of the Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association (NTMA) when the state could boast of about 11 textile companies operating at optimal capacity, providing employment and business opportunities to thousands of people,” he recounted.
The senator lamented that by the late 1990s, the industry had entered a terminal decline. Obsolete equipment, inadequate capital, chronic power shortages and the lifting of restrictions on textile imports in 2010 conspired to dismantle a once‑formidable industrial base. “With the lifting of the ban on textile importation in 2010, Nigeria now has almost 80 percent of its textiles imported from China, Indonesia, Taiwan and other countries. This trend is not helping the Nigerian economy in terms of employment generation and conservation of foreign exchange,” Katung said. He revealed that major textile firms in Kaduna had become moribund by the late 1990s and had completely shut down by 2007, with over 7,000 workers losing their jobs.
Senator Adamu Aliero, a former governor of Kebbi State, delivered a characteristically blunt assessment of the situation. “I will push for a total ban on importation of textiles into Nigeria. It is the only way we can revive the industry,” Aliero declared. He pointed to China’s industrial transformation as a model worth emulating. “The issue of trade liberalisation will not work for us. China succeeded in many respects because it closed its borders.” Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan stressed the importance of addressing raw material supply, noting that without a robust cotton value chain, any revival would be built on sand. “We have to have very serious discussions on the raw materials that will revive our textile industry,” she said. Senator Onawo Ogoshi (PDP, Nasarawa South) framed the revival as a security imperative. “All that is happening in our country today is due to lack of jobs for our youths. I am sure we can come back on track, get our youths employed, get our farmers engaged, and this country will be better for it,” he said.
The Senate Chief Whip, Senator Tahir Monguno, made a specific demand on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), urging it to establish a dedicated intervention fund for the textile sector. “The CBN should create a special-purpose fund to revive the textile industry. If they can create a fund for Nollywood, they can create one for the textile industry in view of the background of its importance to the economy,” Monguno argued. Senator Jibrin Isah (APC, Kogi East) warned that the motion must not meet the fate of countless others that had gathered dust in government archives. “This motion is very important, but I don’t want it to die like other motions. I want us to engage the ministry of industry. We have to sit down with the ministry and tell them how this thing should go. This is what we call financial engineering; we have to structure it,” he said.
Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, who presided over the session, assured lawmakers that the Senate would closely monitor the implementation of the resolutions. He stressed that a revitalised textile industry holds immense potential for economic growth, job creation and poverty reduction in Nigeria. Following the adoption of the motion, the Senate resolved to call on the Federal Government to immediately ban all foreign textile imports, provide additional funding to the Bank of Industry for the revival of textile industries nationwide, and encourage the cultivation of cotton through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture working in collaboration with all state governments. The Senate also called for policies aimed at expanding local cotton production, which has collapsed by over 95 per cent, from about 200,000 metric tonnes in 2001 to roughly 10,000 metric tonnes in 2025.
For the millions of unemployed Nigerian youths who have lost hope in the country’s industrial future, the Senate’s Tuesday resolution is a promise on paper, not yet a factory on the ground. The textile mills of Kaduna and Kano remain silent, their windows smashed and their looms still. The motion has passed; the real work begins outside the chamber.
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